Digital Testbed Air Cargo: Next-Level Air Cargo Handling

“This compelling demonstration shows we are well-prepared to meet current and future challenges, especially in the air cargo sector. This sector must balance labor shortages with the need for high throughput rates. We can only overcome this challenge by leveraging all available technological advancements to optimize processes,” emphasized Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian State Minister for Housing, Construction, and Transport. Dr. Jan Henrik Andersson, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Security Officer at Flughafen München GmbH, also expressed optimism about the research outcomes: “The collaboration between Fraunhofer IML and Munich Airport is pioneering. With increasing air cargo volumes and staffing challenges, digitalization and robotics will be crucial in making cargo and baggage handling more efficient and attractive.”

During the Munich Airport presentation, four very different robots demonstrated key roles. The “robot dog,” Spot, from Boston Dynamics, equipped with a scanner and 4K camera, autonomously patrolled the warehouse, identifying large storage pallets ready for storage and locating suitable areas for them. An autonomous forklift managed the transfer of goods from transportation vehicles to an automated high-bay warehouse. Fraunhofer IML’s omni-directional, high-speed robot, O³dyn, transported Euro-pallets to a neighboring warehouse. Meanwhile, evoBOT, another Fraunhofer IML development, transferred packages from a Euro-pallet to an X-ray machine conveyor belt and back again. EvoBOT, a dynamically stable system with two gripping arms, operates on the principle of an inverted pendulum without an external counterweight. Its processes were controlled by Fraunhofer’s „openTCS“ software, a user-friendly tool for coordinating automated guided vehicles (AGVs). In summer 2024, another test field as also run at Stuttgart Airport to illuminate transportation on the apron.

Initially scheduled to conclude in September 2024, the DTAC project received approximately 6.9 million euros from the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport. Recently, the ministry increased the funding by an additional 6.8 million euros, extending the project‘s duration until August 2026. This brings the total project funding to 18 million euros. “We need artificial intelligence in aviation to remain internationally competitive,” asserted Oliver Luksic, Parliamentary State Secretary to the German federal minister for Digital and Transport. “This is the only way we can deploy our increasingly scarce workforce effectively and make optimum use of limited infrastructure to reduce costs long-term. The workforce shortage is particularly severe in logistics. Digital technologies will be essential in meeting these challenges and ensuring the quick, reliable, and efficient air transport of goods in the future. With the ‘Digital Testbed’ project, we are investing in our country‘s future viability.” Dr. Harald Sieke, head of the Aviation Logistics department at Fraunhofer IML and overall project manager for DTAC, added: “This additional funding for the Digital Testbed Air Cargo project allows us to maintain and advance our leading position in technology and knowledge within the air cargo sector, positioning Germany as an attractive, future-oriented hub for digitalizing air cargo processes.”

While not all processes during the Munich Airport demonstration were fully automated, the Fraunhofer IML researchers anticipate a rapid and significant increase in automation in air cargo handling, especially given the available research funding. “We have made significant strides on the hardware front. Artificial intelligence will help us coordinate and control vehicles, providing the tools and algorithms needed to predict the paths of autonomous robots and avoid collisions. As a result, we will soon have fully autonomous systems to make the air cargo industry future-ready,” says Prof. Michael Henke, executive director of Fraunhofer IML. In the extension phase of the project, work will continue on particularly relevant strands of research: These include robot development specifically for air cargo transportation units, end-to-end process considerations at the airport and control station applications for monitoring and controlling the robots.